Shania Shayal Prasad 
Nasinu Town Council Chief Executive Felix Magnus[Photo: FILE]
Illegal developments and compliance breaches continue to challenge Nasinu Town Council, creating long-standing problems within the municipality.
Chief Executive Felix Magnus states that many of the issues, including blocked drainage caused by driveways constructed over drains, were inherited from before the council’s establishment in 2000.
Magnus stresses that community consultation and council oversight are essential to preventing such issues.
“At the end of the day, once the development is over, all the complaints come back to the council. So we want to be the first to inspect these development plans, to have our say. And the community too needs to have their say.”
Magnus also raised concerns over waste management and household extensions.
“Some people have gone ahead and extended their homes, have four flats, five flats. And we’re only charging them a garbage collection fee of $80, one. But then there are four households living there. So when they put out garbage, there’s about eight plastic bags coming out from one household. So that creates an issue for us.”
Minister for Local Government, Maciu Nalumisa, says this remains an ongoing issue.
“But the council is there to follow up, to ensure that whoever is doing illegal developments or illegal extensions on their properties, as well as illegal developments, their duty is to ensure that they give out, they go and see them and also issue them notices.”
The ministry is taking steps to ensure that proper oversight and compliance measures are in place to address the problem.
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